Let’s Talk About Drugs: My Allergy Arsenal

I’ve endearingly been called “the druggy” by just about all of my friends. They could always count on me to have something to cure whatever ailed them. Well, so long as it wasn’t a physical injury, I wasn’t so hot on Band-Aids, usually just wrapped my cuts in paper towels and called it good… But you got a headache? I gotchu. Stomachache? Done. Sniffy? No problem. My allergies have always caused some part of me to fail, so I was always prepared for it.

I’m no doctor of course, but I’ve always considered my body to be a sack of chemicals, so if there’s an imbalance, I balance it. I’ve tried a lot of holistic medications as well, teas, salves, neti pot-type saline (eek!) but I consider my life to have been more effectively lived because I’ve had medications to help me get through it.

Without further ado, let me introduce you to my medicine cabinet!

Benadryl

Ah yes, I’ve probably taken more Benadryl in my life than I’ve eaten bread. Wal-dryl, CVS-dryl, whatever-dryl it’s all the same as long as you see that glorious diphenhydramine on the label. Pretty in hot pink, I’ve always got tons of it! Benadryl has two main benefits: antihistamine and sleep aid. Honestly I took one of these a night all throughout middle school to help me fall asleep with no ill side-effects. Since it’s a pretty tame drug, I’m comfortable taking it often. In fact (vet’s orders) I often give it to my dog! I usually take just one, even with my frequent use it hits me hard. I’ve taken two a couple times to cut off an allergic reaction, it puts me in a heavy, dream-like state that is very, very had to shake, so I wouldn’t recommend taking it unless you plan to sleep after. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend taking any Benadryl if sleep isn’t in your near future. Funny tangent, my brother took a couple after meeting a bunny before his junior prom, poor kid slept right through it!

I find that Benadryl tends to help most in piggy, drippy, and sickly phases, however I’ve been given it (on top of other drugs) for DAMN. It helps with itching, congestion, runny nose and eyes, rashes, all of the classic allergy symptoms. And if all else fails, it puts you to sleep so you can at least sleep off the allergy attack!

One more note, while the liquid Benadryl tastes… well like medicine, it hits faster than the pill does. There’s also one that dissolves on your tongue which hits pretty fast. Those don’t taste great, but they’re kinda fun!

Sudafed (the non-sleepy Benadryl)

Okay, so it’s no secret that Sudafed can be used to make meth. Honestly, I used to consider myself lucky never to have been flagged I buy so much of this stuff. However, here’s what I learned: there’s real Sudafed, and fake Sudafed. Both sudafeds should be in your inventory, though, because they both have benefits.

Let’s start with fake Sudafed. Fake Sudafed is over-the-counter because it contains a drug called phenylephrine which CANNOT be used to make meth. It’s a nasal decongestant, however isn’t quite as powerful or, by default, as dangerous. I take this stuff much more often than I do the real stuff. It works guys, I promise, even if it can’t be used to make meth.

The real stuff has to be bought with an ID from a pharmacist because it contains pseudoephedrine. Pseudoephedrine is the meth-making drug (don’t ask me how, I haven’t the foggiest). This stuff is more powerful than the fake stuff and honestly makes me a little nervous. It does work better than the fake stuff, but the side-effects are worse. It makes you dizzier, foggier, drier (in the nasal passages) and is overall intense. Use this one for a bad attack, like a sickly, but personally I stick to the fake stuff for the most part.

Ibuprofen

Not an allergy drug? Ah but it is! Actually this is one of my favorites! On this list I’m going to talk about some medications to help some allergy attack side-effects, but I’d argue ibuprofen helps reduce your allergies directly. In fact, lately I’ve been reaching for it even before the Sudafed. As you probably know, ibuprofen helps reduce swelling. If you’ve had a bad allergy attack and felt like a swollen ball of gross, you’ll see where I’m going with this. Ibuprofen reduces the swelling in your nasal passages to help you breathe! It’s brilliant! It will also reduce the swelling in your eyes, and the painful and swollen throat you’ve been vigorously itching. Tangentially, it can also help the allergy headache you may develop.

Tums

This is the first of the medications I’m going to introduce to help with allergy attack side-effects. After a long day of post-nasal drip running down the back of your throat and into your stomach (delicious) you might have a bit of a stomachache. Reach for these guys first. All they are is calcium, really. My mother took two a morning for years to help her bones. I remember when I was maybe six and having my sister slide me over a bottle of these and saying, “take a few, they’re like candy!” She wasn’t wrong, though for purely taste I may lean more toward a bar of chocolate, but I digress. Tums are the most harmless yet effective “drug” I have on my list. They have some great flavors, too! May I suggest the mint smoothies? They taste just life after-dinner mints! So good.

Gas-x

If tums are failing you, it’s time to bring in the big guns. That said, Gas-x is pretty harmless, too. I usually just take one of these, two if necessary, when I’ve been blowing my nose a lot and a lot of air is getting into my system. Whereas Tums are more helpful for an acidic feeling in your stomach (like mucus), Gas-x is better when it feels like you have a lot of air.

Side note: hot pads (rice pads) and laying on your stomach also helps. It hurts at first, then gets much better!

Antihistamine Eye Drops

I buy random versions of these over-the-counter, they all pretty much work the same. These are great for itchy, red, swollen eyes, though they’re pretty hard to control when you’re wearing makeup!

Saline Eye Drops 

So, these are good in a pinch. A lot of people have this stuff if they wear contacts so it’s easy to come by. All it really does is wash out your eyes which can help stave off the allergy effects. Fair warning! Your eyes are attached to your nose! I once used a ton of these because I had nothing else (dumb ol’ me) and a side-effect is your nose runs like crazy! That extra liquid just drips out…

Hydrocortisone Cream

This is a topical steroid (antihistamines and steroids – live ‘em, love ‘em). It’s great for things like eczema and other allergy rashes. I used to get eczema like CRAZY when I was a kid (before my allergies set on, oddly. Maybe that was foreshadowing…) and my mom would slather this stuff on with vigor. Basically it reduces swelling and redness and itchiness. Full disclosure, it doesn’t say it helps with itchiness, but it does. Maybe it’s just because skin creams are cold and wet? I don’t know but I think it helps.

Here comes the daily stuff

Claritin

This is my go-to. I’ve never had any side-effects with this stuff (except when I crossed it with a prescription allergy med, don’t do that) and it kind of brings my normal allergies down a bit. However it helps when you rotate your allergy meds so when it’s time to switch up I go to…

Zyrtec

I usually prefer to take my meds in the morning, but Zyrtec is a night one. It can make you a bit drowsy. Honestly, Zyrtec seems to work about the same as Claritin, however for a few years I remember taking Zyrtec at the same time as…

Allegra

I’m not sure why I took Zyrtec and Allegra together, I was too young to remember. I also took them on their own but I remember not thinking they were as effective as just Claritin.

My recommendation with these three is simply to try them all. Buy a bottle of one, use it up, buy the next, use it up, etc. They’re all antihistamines so they work similarly, but everyone’s bodies react differently.

Nasal Sprays

The bane of my existence

I have a very obvious slant here that I ride pretty hard, I hate nasal sprays. I really preferred the shots. That said, I did take a few.

The over-the-counter sprays I tried were Flonase and Rhinocort. First of all, Flonase smells like roses? Give me a break. They did help, I’ll give them that. Flonase, however, also gave me pretty consistent headaches, so it wasn’t worth it. I heard from a few friends that headaches were a pretty consistent side-effect. Rhinocort didn’t give me headaches, but after I took it for a few months with two other allergy meds, doc told me to pic and allergy med to drop so bye-bye went Rhinocort.

All this is to say if you want to try one, I say go Rhinocort first, it was tamer for me.

I also took a prescription nasal steroid, too. It really burned the first time I tried it, then it got better and helped. Then I got my turbinates out (that’s a story for later, but basically they’re in your nasal passages so I got them out to help me breathe through my nose) and the nasal steroid hurt like crazy and never stopped. I can’t take it anymore. It’s worth a shot if you don’t mind nasal sprays, though. Don’t let the first time turn you off, odds are after the first couple nights the spray won’t hurt anymore, just help.

Aside from the mention of a nasal steroid, I’m only going to talk about two prescription medications.

Inhaler (Albuterol)

I want to mention this one because it doesn’t necessarily scream, “take me for allergies!!” When I was in middle school, I was told I have allergy-induced athletic-induced asthma. All that means is my allergies swell up my breathing passages (you can tell how scientific I am) and make it harder to breathe, then I exercise and those passages get even smaller, then I wheeze. I take two puffs of this on a timer, puff – hold 30 seconds – wait 1 minute – puff – hold 30 seconds, before I exercise (mostly cardio) and it just helps me not to wheeze. I’ve had to take it at random times too if my allergies are bad and I can’t breathe well, it always helps. I like having it on stand-by.

Prednisone

Remember how I mentioned steroids? Here’s the big guns. When I’ve had a particularly bad and/or long allergy attack, I’ll take this. I’ve only taken it about three times, it really messes with your system. I also wasn’t trusted with it until I was an adult, which is definitely a good thing. It’s amazing stuff, one hour I’m dying and the next I’m almost fine, however it takes 10 days to come off of. Yup, it’s a 10-day stint of hard drugs. You can’t just stop taking prednisone so you have to wean off of it and I got some pretty weird side-effects when I do. I can feel depressed, feel weird in a way I can’t quite describe, get constantly hungry or never hungry, it’s a rollercoaster. I wanted to mention it because it’s magic, but they always say that magic comes as a cost.

There you have it, my medicine cabinet! If you’re new to allergies, the first 8 that I mentioned are pretty harmless, they just require you to find a good balance for your body. The ones after that are better when taken after a frank conversation with your doc.

And like I said, this is my experience with these medications. I’m not nor ever will be (I don’t think) a doctor. This is just my own, albeit ample, experience.